70 yearsafter the end of WWII and70 yearsafterRaoul Wallenberg’s disappearance in the Soviet Union, the full circumstances of his fate remain unknown.

To mark this anniversary, an international group of historians and Wallenberg experts are set to begin a new initiativeintended to bring about a resolution of the case.

The purpose of this initiative isto pool researchers’ knowledge and expertisein order to devise new ways of advancing the search for answers and, in particular, to facilitate access to all pertinent documentation in Russian and other international archives.

Our central aim is to create aBlueprint for solving the Raoul Wallenberg case.

Our short term goals are:

to prepare aMaster Listof questions pending in the Raoul Wallenbergcase, through intensive discussion with international experts

to hold a joint meeting in the autumn 2015*, to finalize theMaster Listof essential questions and requests (*time and date to be announced)

to take thisMaster Listto Moscow, with a small delegation of researchers, who will meet with Russian officials and archivists to address the problem of direct access to key documentation.

to prepare separate Master Listsof questions for other international archives

We wish to ensure that even in this increasingly difficult political climate, the door on a constructive dialogue with Russian archivists and officials does not close entirely. The RWI, therefore, seeks the close cooperation of both the Russian and Swedish governments, as well as other international organization and representatives.

We also warmly welcome all members of the public who wish to join the effort. Your support, in whatever way you might be willing to extend it, is greatly appreciated.

Partager :

Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak has spent the past 13 years imprisoned in Eritrea, which has been criticized by several human rights organizations. In this week’s exclusive debate article for The Local, US campaigner Kerry Kennedy writes that it is time for the Swedish government to step up the fight to secure his release. See more >

Partager :

Twenty-five years later, still many loose ends in three major Cold War Cases

In 1944, the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg went to Hungary to protect the Jewish population of Budapest from deportation and death at the hands of Nazi death squads. In six short months, he managed to save thousands of lives and aided countless more by implementing an extensive humanitarian aid effort. In January 1945, he was arrested by Soviet troops and disappeared in the Soviet Union. In 1957, Soviet authorities announced that he had died in a Moscow prison in July 1947. They never presented any conclusive evidence for this claim and the full circumstances of his fate remain unknown.

On June 13, 1952 a Soviet fighter plane shot down a Swedish DC-3 reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic sea.1

The DC-3, which is believed to have carried an eight men crew, was unarmed and had been flying over international waters at the time of the incident. Swedish authorities denied for years that the crew had been engaged in intelligence gathering activities, claiming instead that the plane had been on a simple training exercise. Three days after the loss of the DC-3, another Swedish plane that was engaged in the search effort was also attacked. It was able to make an emergency landing, despite heavy fire, incurring no casualties.2

From December 1941 – November 1981 eighteen Swedish ships vanished, all of them traveling through the Baltic Sea. Some fell victim to bad weather conditions or un-cleared mines. However, several of the ships were known to have engaged in smuggling refugees to and from Poland. They also played a role in infiltrating Swedish agents into iron curtain countries and other intelligence operations. These activities were carried out with the active assistance of Swedish as well as Allied intelligence personnel. The precise circumstances of the ships’ disappearance and the fate of their crews remain a mystery. The vessels carried more than one hundred people.

Partager :

In 1941, Raoul Wallenberg maintained a temporary office address at Blasieholmsgatan 3, in the heart of the Wallenberg family business sphere. The new information suggests that his contact with his famous relatives was closer than previously thought. It also raises the question if after Wallenberg’s disappearance in the Soviet Union in 1945, these connections were intentionally de-emphasized. At the same time, the discovery puts the statements of a number of witnesses in the Wallenberg case in a new perspective.

For most visitors, the way to Stockholm’s water front leads through a block of beautifully restored office buildings at Blasieholmstorg and Blasieholmsgatan. The area forms the heart of the Wallenberg business group, located right behind the famous Grand Hotel. In 1997, one of us (S. Berger) had the opportunity to accompany Guy von Dardel, Raoul Wallenberg’s brother, to a meeting there with Peter (« Pirre ») Wallenberg, who was at the time the family patriarch. (1)

The surroundings were both fascinating and slightly intimidating. The hushed atmosphere in the ante-room, Wallenberg’s sudden arrival, with a small entourage, the exchange of pleasantries which quickly moved on to the business at hand. There the discussion promptly stalled, because Mr. Wallenberg would or could not provide what Guy von Dardel had come for: The documentation about Raoul Wallenberg’s contacts with Marcus and Jacob Wallenberg, Peter Wallenberg’s father and uncle, respectively.

Surprisingly few of Raoul Wallenberg’s personal papers have survived, which has made it difficult to reconstruct his activities before July 1944, when he received a temporary diplomatic appointment to aid Hungary’s Jewish population.

Our inquiry focused on the autumn of 1939, when Raoul repeatedly asked Jacob (his first cousin, once removed) for permanent employment in the Wallenberg sphere. Jacob had alluded to the possibility that the coming war would create certain problems and that Raoul could possibly assist him in addressing these challenges. It is unclear what precise problems Jacob Wallenberg had in mind and most experts believed that nothing further came of the idea.

After September 1939, however, Raoul’s requests for assistance abruptly stop. What happened? Did he finally give up trying to attract the attention of his powerful relatives?

At the age of twenty-seven, Wallenberg had come to a crossroad in his life. On the surface, he appeared aimless, without any promising professional prospects. In 1940, he abandoned his office at Kungsgatan , where he had previously maintained a small private firm. That year he devoted a lot of time to his military service, as an instructor in the newly established Swedish Home Guard.

So, how was he planning to earn a living? Recently new clues have emerged which may explain how he spent his time until July 1941, when he joined Mellaneuropeiska, an export-import business that specialized in trade with Hungary. Due to the war, most of this trade was handled in the form of barter or compensation transactions.

Originally, Mellaneuropeiska’s office was not located at Strandvägen 7A, as was always believed. Instead, from July until December 1941, the company used an address at Blasieholmsgatan 3. (2)

Fig 1. Mellaneuropeiska’s letter head, September 1941; Source: The Hungarian National Archives, Budapest; Archives of the Hungarian Trade Ministry, Foreign Trade Section, Stockholm (K-520) – 8 –1941. The letter shows that Mellaneurorpeiska was a fully functioning firm at this point, with plans to arrange for the import of 160 tons of gasoline from Hungary to Swedenon behalf of the Swedish State Purchasing Agency for Reserve Goods(Reservförrådsnämnden)

The building was a stone’s throw from Stockholms Enskilda Bank (SEB) where both Marcus and Jacob Wallenberg maintained their offices. Marcus Wallenberg’s private residence was located just a few doors down, at Blasieholmstorg 11.

Some years ago, a woman by the name of Ms Gertrud Larsson (her maiden name) testified that during the 1940s, she worked in adjoining offices with Raoul Wallenberg on Blasieholmen.

She said she had been employed first as a secretary for the SEB and she later worked for two companies, Baltiska Oljeaktiebolag and AB Oljecentralen. Both firms were located at Blasieholmsgatan 3. They were part of the extensive Wallenberg family investments in the Estonian shale oil industry which produced fuel and important by-products such as cement for construction projects. Prominent Wallenberg business associates like Axel Ax:son Johnson, August Nachmanson and Franz Georg Liljenroth served as members of the board.

Larsson’s statement was not taken seriously, because by the time she shared her experiences in the 1990s, she was already suffering from the first signs of dementia.

Gertrud Larsson from the year 1950, at age 35; Source: The Larsson Family , Private Archive

Since then, her employment history has been partially confirmed. Still unconfirmed remains Ms Larsson’s claim that on at least one occasion she received a special assignment – directly from Jacob Wallenberg – to travel as a courier to Estonia. She also said that she met Raoul Wallenberg in connection with this special task.

In his personal notes which are preserved at the Swedish National Archives, Raoul Wallenberg’s friend and business partner in Mellaneuropeiska, Kálmán Lauer, recalled that Jacob Wallenberg had been Raoul’s « idol » and that Raoul served as « his private secretary during the time he worked at Meropa (Mellaneuropeiska) « . Lauer’s claim was largely dismissed as an exaggeration of his friend’s relationship with his famous relative. In light of the new findings, his statement, too, deserves further examination.

Finally, a former employee of SUKAB (Sveriges Utrikeshandels Kompensations Aktiebolag) reported that he remembered Raoul Wallenberg well from the time Raoul spent working with his company.

Founded in July 1940, SUKAB was a huge Swedish business conglomerate which also included most of the major Wallenberg industrial enterprises like Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF, a manufacturer of ball bearings ), Svenska Tändsticksaktiebolaget(STAB, a producer of matches and lighters) and L.M. Ericsson (a provider of communications technology).

During World War II, SUKAB coordinated virtually all Swedish trade with the occupied territories, including France (which Raoul Wallenberg visited in 1942) and the Baltic countries. The compensation trade conducted by Mellaneuropeiska would have fallen under SUKAB’s broader purview.

The company was initially located at Norrlangdsgatan, but soon after it moved to Blasieholmstorg 11. Raoul Wallenberg’s uncle, Carl-Axel Söderlund (the husband of Raoul’s aunt Nita Söderlund) was one of its original board members.

Back in 1997, sitting in the well appointed Wallenberg family business office, Guy von Dardel knew only one thing: He needed to learn more about his brother’s personal and professional history. He requested all documentation concerning Raoul’s association with the Wallenberg family and Mellaneuropeiska. He also asked for direct access to specific Wallenberg family collections.

Peter Wallenberg was not in a gracious mood, however. Von Dardel’s request for access was denied and he never received any documentation beyond what the Wallenberg archives released later on, in the year 2000 (Nylander, Gert and Anders Perlinge, Raoul Wallenberg in Documents, 1927-1947, 2000; Banking and Enterprise No. 3, Stockholm: Stiftelsen för Ekonomisk Historisk Forskning inom Bank och Företagande.)

The few papers the Wallenberg archives did make available chronicle the contacts between Raoul Wallenberg and his relatives between 1927 and 1944. They show no written communications between Raoul and the Wallenberg brothers after 1939, for three whole years (until 1942), and almost none after that . For 1939 and 1940, only one meeting with Raoul Wallenberg was recorded in the visitors’ book at the SEB – in early January, to see Jacob. This was most likely a New Year’s visit which probably also offered a chance to discuss Raoul’s professional future. The next official meeting did not occur until May 1941, almost certainly in connection with the founding of Mellaneuropeiska.

The company’s formal owners – Carl Matthiessen and Sven Salén – were longtime business partners of both Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg, so Mellaneuropeiska’s initial location at Blasieholmsgatan is not necessarily surprising. However, the question is why the firm did not take up its location at Strandvägen from the start, where Salén had his main office? (3)

While the address was clearly temporary, Raoul’s presence there during the years 1940-41 suggests that his contacts to the Wallenberg sphere was perhaps closer than previously thought. According to the witnesses, he was learning the intricacies of wartime trade. This meant first and foremost trade with the occupied areas.

Fig. 4 Blasieholmsgatan 3 today; Source: Wikimedia Commons (i99pema)

Did he also concern himself with specific problems arising from the war, such as Sweden’s business interests in Estonia, for example, as has been alleged?

From June 1940 – June 1941, Estonia found itself under Soviet occupation, which created numerous challenges for Swedish and Estonian entrepreneurs and the need for protection of their assets; as did the subsequent occupation by the German Nazi forces. These very same problems reared their head later on in Hungary.

While Raoul Wallenberg was clearly not formally employed by the Wallenbergs, he may have been groomed by Jacob as a man for special assignments. Among the documents missing from Raoul’s private papers are his address books and appointment calendars from before 1944, as well as his international passports for 1937 – 1941 and for 1943. (4)

Only his official Kabinettspass from 1941/42 – a special travel document issued by the Swedish government – and both his diplomatic and private Swedish passports, issued in June 1944, are currently available to researchers. As it turns out, some of these gaps in the record may not be accidental.

A source who wished to remain anonymous but who knew Raoul Wallenberg well during the 1940s, indicated in a statement that Wallenberg did « confidential work for the Swedish state » under the guise of his business activities.

During the war, high level business men like Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg who maintained a broad network of influential professional and political contacts, ranked among the most important sources for domestic and foreign intelligence services. The Wallenberg family has traditionally maintained very close ties to the Swedish intelligence community. Colonel Carl Björnstierna, head of the Swedish Foreign Intelligence at the Swedish General Staff until 1942, was married to Jacob and Marcus’ sister Sonja. He also happened to be a good friend of Mellaneuropeiska’s owner, Carl Matthiessen. Both men in turn were on very good terms with the British Military Attaché Henry Denham.

Per Jacobsson, an executive in the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) who would later head the International Monetary Fund (IMF), worked as an agent for Swedish Intelligence throughout the war.

It was Jacobsson who already in September 1940 transmitted a request to Jacob Wallenberg from prominent Jewish entrepreneurs in Hungary to temporarily « Aryanize » their businesses – to formally replace Jewish board members and directors with Aryan ones, in order to disguise the true ownership o f their companies. It is quite likely that requests such as these played at least a partial role in the founding of Mellaneuropeiska.

Similar types of companies specializing in wartime compensation trade were formed for the Baltic countries, including Transkandia which dealt mostly with Latvia and which was headed by the lawyer and businessman Wilhelm Moberg, a friend of Marcus Wallenberg. It too was located on Blasieholmen, at Blasiehomstorg 9.

Aside from the immediate wish to assist friends and business associates, these activities mainly served to protect long-term Wallenberg business investments and to secure Sweden’s economic interests in the post-war economy.

Helmuth Ternberg, deputy head of the Swedish C-byrån (C- Bureau, foreign intelligence agency under the Swedish Armed Forces), secretly traveled to Hungary in 1943 and 1944, to develop contacts with the Hungarian resistance and to prepare for the coming Soviet occupation. Ternberg was well acquainted with the Wallenbergs and worked for them in various capacities after the war. His brother Egon was one of Raoul Wallenberg’s godfathers.

Carl Bonde – the stepson of another Wallenberg sister, Ebba Bonde – served as the head of Swedish counterintelligence. One of his officers, Thorsten Akrell, secretly delivered two radio sets to the Hungarian resistance in Budapest in 1944, where he also met with Raoul Wallenberg. It was with the help of Akrell’s old friend, the director of AB Industridiesel, Carl Hardeberg, as well as Helmuth Ternberg, that Jacob Wallenberg tried to contact the Soviet leadership in 1954, to obtain information about Raoul’s fate.

It needs to be determined once and for all how extensive Raoul Wallenberg’s contacts were with the Wallenberg sphere and what exact training he received. Was it simply a way for the Wallenberg family to keep him at arm’s length, while also making use of his abilities?

And were these connections intentionally de-emphasized after Raoul’s arrest, in order to protect him, by keeping the contacts to his relatives out of any discussions?

Or did the Wallenberg brothers worry that his knowledge of the inner workings of the Wallenberg sphere could be harmful to the family’s reputation?

Marcus and Jacob’s remarkable passivity after Raoul’s disappearance in the Soviet Union in 1945 continues to raise important questions.

Seventy years later, it is time for both Sweden and Russia to finally reveal everything they know about Raoul Wallenberg’s background and his fate.

(2) In 1940, the building was formally owned by a Captain Carl Ljungberg (1873-1975). He served as the head of the SEB’s real estate office and its chief of personnel. In 1941, Blasieholmsgatan 3 was sold to the Hotell Esplanades Fastighetsaktiebolag. Ljungberg had begun his career in the Swedish Navy. From 1916-1919 he served as the chief of the National Budget Commission’s Transport Department. As such, he had concerned himself with questions of national supply and rationing of goods, precisely the type of problems Sweden faced in 1941. How concerned Raoul Wallenberg was about these issues shows a letter he wrote regarding Sweden’s food supply situation in February 1944; see Raoul Wallenberg: Letters and Dispatches 1924-1944, New York: Arcade Publishing, 1995.

(3)Mellaneuropeiska seems to have moved to Strandvägen 7A by about November 1941. It is listed at this address in the Swedish Röda Boken for 1942. (The Red Book, an official Swedish register for street addresses and their occupants) . Most entries for this annual publication are compiled by the month of November of the previous year (in this case November 1941). The company used the old letter heads – with Blasieholmsgatan 3 crossed out and Strandvägen 7A penciled in – until at least January 1942. According to Mellaneuropeiska‘s official registration documents filed in July 1941, the company’s original postal address was Frihamn (the Stockholm Free Harbor). This was the address of Carl Matthiessen’s Banankompaniet, under whose umbrella Mellaneuropeiska functioned.

(4) It is known that Raoul Wallenberg maintained personal address books and appointment calendars, in 1944 and in earlier years. Source: Kálmán Lauer’s private papers, The Swedish National Archives.

Partager :

Raoul Wallenberg frees a Jewish athlete from the grasp of the Nazis

When Hungary was taken in 1944, the Nazis, sensing the final decision of WWII, tried to rush their extinction programme. The genocide did not even respect extraordinary intellectual or athletic achievments. Under such horrific circumstances only the personal courage of individuals like Schindler or Wallenberg could save the lives of the Doomed. Wallenberg is known to have saved the lives of several hundred Jews by issuing protective passports. Most of the persons who owed their lives to Wallenberg are unknown. Here is an example of a very well known athlete whose live was saved by Wallenberg.

What I find particularly intriguing about this document is the encounter of two « heroes »: An « athletic hero » who owed his life to a « hero of righteousness ». I think this is an astonishing piece of history which deserves some attention.

Partager :

Exactly 70 years ago in 1945, Swedish businessman Raoul Wallenberg was abducted by Russian forces as they occupied Hungary. Wallenberg, who was not Jewish himself, saved tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest during the Holocaust. He was never heard from again following the abduction. Wallenberg’s niece, Louise von Dardel, speaks with VOI’s Judy Lash Balint about her family’s struggle to determine her uncle’s fate.

Partager :

My uncle Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary, was abducted by the Russians on January 17, 1945 and immediately incarcerated in a KGB jail in Moscow. Probably there was not one day that our family did not think of him since then and our family did all we could to bring him home. The seventieth anniversary of his separation from us leads me to reflect and some of this I would like to share.

Because of his exceptional deeds in Hungary Raoul is a historical figure and history is collective memory. Yad Vashem has a slogan: “Remembering the Past – Shaping the Future”. Also for me history is understanding the essence of past events in order to be able to learn for the future. Specifically, in the case of Raoul, I ask how do we remember a great hero? Is it only to “honor” or also the motivation for positive action?

During the past decades my uncle was often honored at high level state ceremonies and became honorary citizen of various countries. Streets, monuments and schools have been named after him, stamps have been issued by various countries and he is the best known rescuer of Jews. Many who remember him are descendents of those he rescued and thus received a gift of life. Some also remember him as a symbol of Communist terror, which swallowed tens of millions of lives.

For me there are two main questions: “What happened to Raoul Wallenberg after he fell into the hands of the Russians?” and “What can we learn from him and how can we be inspired to carry on his work and keep his spirit alive?” More information is required about his fate and why he was not rescued from the Russians. We need to better understand all the complex forces of history in the post-war period.

Raoul was born into a privileged family: the wealthy and very powerful Swedish banking and industrial Wallenbergs. His father, Raoul Oscar Wallenberg, died before he was born and his maternal grandfather passed away few months after his birth. In his formative years he was brought up by two grieving widows, his mother and grandmother, both dressed in black. Some feel like victims under such circumstances, but Raoul learned compassion to the suffering of others.

Later his mother Maj, my grandmother, married Fredrik von Dardel, an aristocrat and a noble man. Subsequently Raoul’s siblings were born: my father Guy and aunt Nina.

Instead of becoming a banker in the Wallenberg enterprise Raoul selected architecture for his university studies, because of his imagination, pragmatism and passion for creating harmony. Despite the Great Depression he chose to study at the University of Michigan in America. He witnessed many personal tragedies and also perceived the coming of economic recovery. During a vacation he worked at a world’s fair and experienced America by hitchhiking all the way to Mexico. He appreciated the country’s vastness and beauty. He saw that America can envision and accomplish great things, almost without limits and often in totally unconventional ways. This made a great impression on Raoul and fundamentally influenced his thinking.

He enjoyed his studies, nature, travel, meeting girls, interesting discussions, reading, going to movies, dinners and many of the nice things life has to offer. Despite his family background he was modest and loved to be helpful to people.

Following the wish of his banking family on his way back to Sweden he worked for a short time in various countries in order to get banking experience. One of his places of work was a bank in Haifa where he met many Jews who recently escaped from Nazi Germany. That may well be one of the reasons why he felt so much compassion for the abandoned Jews of Europe.

The global economic crisis had already reached Sweden when he returned to Stockholm. The wealthy Wallenberg family did not seem to help him find work. Raoul found a job with a Hungarian Jew, Kalman Lauer, in Stockholm. It was an import-export company dealing with Hungarian food items.

He was a creative person in the best sense of that word, both in architecture and in other areas of life. That took courage, because a truly creative person is often scorned for being different. Raoul was not an eccentric or a one dimensional person, yet he was by no means a conformist. He was in many ways a rugged individual. He skillfully combined vision and creativity with pragmatism. He was very solution oriented. For example he designed a floating swimming pool by the royal castle for a Stockholm architectural competition.

During much of World War II Raoul lived in neutral Sweden is peaceful Stockholm. Most of his friends were leading normal lives while he was concerned about the war. He kept up with events and even had a map on which he noted the main battles and the fate of war. He was quite bright, but even more important he had a sensitive and caring heart. When he heard about the concentration camps he believed it was happening and tried to convince his friends that this horror was a reality in modern Europe.

In January 1944 President Roosevelt set up the American War Refugee Board. This happened mainly due to activism by the Hillel Kook (Peter Bergson) led rescue group in America and also help of Jewish Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgethau Jr. who pressured Roosevelt. With support of numerous Senators, Congressmen and even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt the “Bergson Group” persistently lobbied the Roosevelt administration to help the Jews of Europe.

One day Raoul was asked by a Stockholm representative of the American War Refugee Board if he would be willing to help rescue Jews in Budapest. He did not speak Hungarian, had never lived there and certainly had absolutely no experience with such important work. He was fully aware of the danger of his mission. He wanted a life filled with deep meaning – one that is worth living. Ultimately he found that in Budapest, where he was totally energized by the immense meaning of his rescue work. He was given a diplomatic passport and an office at the Swedish embassy in Budapest. Most important, the Swedish King agreed that Raoul would be independent and not subject to the diplomatic rules of the Swedish Foreign Ministry. This was critical to his mission’s success. Raoul left for Budapest in a hurry and with great passion and arrived on July 9, 1944. He was a pragmatist, yet like many idealists and youthful people didn’t know the concept of impossible. This helped him face almost insurmountable odds.

His mission to Budapest became possible for many reasons. After the total defeat of the German army at Stalingrad in early February 1943 it became clear that the tables have been turned on the Germans. In June 1944 George Mantello, a Hungarian Jew and El Salvador diplomat in Switzerland, received with considerable delay the famous Auschwitz Report from Moshe Krausz in Budapest. He immediately publicized the horrors of the Holocaust in great detail. This triggered the subsequent Swiss people’s unparalleled grassroots protests and press campaign with over 400 glaring headlines about Europe’s barbarism against its Jewish citizens. This led to Roosevelt, Churchill and others threatening Hungary’s Fascist leader Miklos Horthy with post-war retribution. Horthy understood that the war was lost and was forced to stop the transports to Auschwitz, which until then took about 12,000 Jews to their tragic fate each day.

Raoul Wallenberg and his Jewish management team in Budapest

In Budapest Raoul worked with great excitement. He was tireless and frequently thought of new approaches to save people. He had excellent organizational skills. He built a fairly large group of hundreds of people, mostly Jews, organized as a company with departments and management. There were departments handling financial matters, obtaining storing and distributing food, a clinic and orphanage as well as a human resource group. His personality attracted talented and dedicated people to work with him mainly because he offered meaning and hope. He helped Jews to help other Jews. Raoul gave back to Jews dignity, the willingness to live, confidence in themselves and humanity. He inspired people and as a result some were able to save themselves.

A woman whom I met told me that she was Raoul’s secretary in Budapest. She was was then an 18 year old blue eyed Jewish girl. He sent her together with a Jewish man to various places. They were fearless and didn’t wear a yellow star. They had with them a list of names of Jews who were supposedly under Swedish protection and were able to save many. Raoul also sent his staff to the railway station in order to help him rescue Jews. At least once he would appear with a bag full of Swedish protection papers, threw them to the people who could then save themselves. Many Jews were also saved by forged Swedish protection papers.

During the winter and earlier murderous arrow cross bands terrorized and murdered many people. Winter 1944 was especially cold and the Danube froze over. This and the bombing and shelling of Budapest by the allies made things even more difficult.

Raoul spoke German fluently and with a lot of authority when necessary, which the Germans respected. He didn’t fight the Germans, in fact he understood them. He knew that many were afraid of being left behind on the battlefield, some were concerned about post-war retribution and many were worried about their families. This made it easier for him to negotiate about the rescue of Jews.

Raoul was able to carry on his rescue work because of his daring, passion and search for real meaning to life. It helped that people respected and liked him a lot. He said that his secret weapon was his imagination. Despite his enormous responsibility he made sure to set aside a little time to maintain some balance in his life and did many sketches for his peace of mind. One of his important contributions was that he brought kindness and humanity where there was so much inhumanity.

There was a spirit of friendship and collaboration between Raoul and some other diplomats in Budapest, including Carl Lutz, Giorgio Perlasca, Monsignor Angelo Rotta, Friedrich Born and Ángel Sanz-Briz. They inspired each other and thus a few exceptional people saved large numbers of Jews, which was unprecedented in Europe.

One of the first actions of the Russian forces in Budapest was to abduct my uncle and his Jewish driver Vilmos Langfelder on January 17, 1945 and took them to the Lubyanka KGB prison in Moscow. Sweden conveniently considered him dead and the Americans, who convinced him to go to Budapest, did not help him. My family was left alone to try to bring Raoul back home.

The world started to be interested in his exceptional deeds about 30 years after his abduction, but did not seem to care about his fate. It took over twenty additional years for Sweden to acknowledge his heroism and apologize for being apathetic about his fate.

Guy von Dardel in front of Lubianka prison, 1989, Expressen

After my grandparents’ death my father took on the task of searching for his older brother. He was a nuclear scientist and traveled to Russia over fifty times to try to find Raoul. His intense research brought him in contact with talented and dedicated people who wanted to help. They included Andrei Sakharov, Russian nuclear physicist, human rights activist dissident as well as noted human rights lawyer and one time Canadian Attorney General and Minister of Justice: Professor Irwin Cotler. My father approached all relevant governments and institutions, but unfortunately lacked support by the concerned parties.

Raoul rescued tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary. Three generations were born since then and large numbers owe their life to him. Raoul’s energy, compassion, passion, caring for others made a difference. The War Refugee Board provided considerable sums, which was an important tool. Using it he was able to buy buildings for safe houses and office space, to purchase food and pay for other expenses of the rescue operation. His diplomatic status and independence of normal Swedish diplomatic rules and lack of bureaucratic interference were certainly very important.

We are very proud to be Raoul’s family and regret that the world did not try to find out what was his tragic and undeserved fate in Russia. In enlightened countries generals don’t leave soldiers on the battlefield, yet if humanity truly cared about heroes then Raoul would not have been abandoned. My sister Marie and I greatly respect that our father never abandoned his brother and dedicated his life to bring him home.

As you read this article perhaps you can pause for a while and ask what you understand about Raoul and how would you put in practice his passion of love and caring for people’s life. The 70th anniversary of my uncle’s abduction is an opportunity to reflect and be inspired. Perhaps that is the best way you the reader can honor my dear uncle. My sister Marie proposes to light a candle on January 17 to sustain Raoul’s light.

Partager :

Raoul Wallenberg’s previously unknown contact with the Hamburg merchantLudolph Christensenwho enjoyed the protection of SS General Karl Wolff, Heinrich Himmler’s right hand man, sheds new light on the origins of Wallenberg’s humanitarian mission to Hungary in 1944. Their association throughout the war highlights the complex nature of wartime business affairs and may provide additional avenues for clarifying Wallenberg’s disappearance in the Soviet Union in 1945. Russian officials have apparently known about these contacts for many years but have never released any of the relevant documentation. It is now clear that on at least one occasion Wallenberg’s firm engaged in the transfer of certain technical materials, including tools used in the manufacturing of planes for the German Air Force.

Fig.1 Photo showing Ludolph Christensen in the 1940s. Source: The Christensen Family Archive

In one of his first official reports « concerning aid to Hungarian Jews » from July 29, 1944, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg alludes to an unspecified, highly placed person who has come to Budapest to aid him in his task:

« An individual who came highly recommended has joined me to help probe the highest German circles for future developments. »

Just ten days earlier, Wallenberg’s friend and business partner,Kálmán (Koloman) Lauer, had informed him:

» Our friend Ludo travels to Budapest tomorrow and he will assist you in every way. … Ludo has a [letter of] recommendation to a German military authority. He is certainly an absolutely honest hanseatic merchant who will not say anything that is not true. But you must not put him in any danger. You should instead wait until he himself makes a proposal. »

The mysterious man was a successful trader in foodstuffs from Hamburg named Ludolph Christensen. His father, Ludolph Sr., was a Danish businessman who had settled in Hamburg, specializing in the importation of various raw materials used in the food industry, including spices and herbs.

Ludolph Julius Christensen (1903-1983) had married the daughter of another successful merchant, Johannes Nootbaar, and eventually became director of his father-in-law’s firm, J. Nootbaar, Jr. In the early 20s, Christensen traveled to China where he learned about the various processes for drying vegetables and conserving meat, as well as a new technology for powdering eggs.

Christensen later became something of a pioneer in introducing and developing these technologies in Europe. He was also a recognized expert in the so-called transit trade. It was one of the preferred ways of bringing together the buyers and sellers of different countries during wartime, when the flow of goods was seriously impeded and currencies were not freely convertible. By all accounts, Christensen enjoyed a reputation as a gifted and thoroughly reliable businessman.

During the late 1920s, he made the acquaintance of Kálmán Lauer, a Hungarian lawyer and businessman, who worked in Hamburg for a time. Both men shared an interest in developing trade relations with the Far East (where Lauer had lived and worked for three years) and the two had remained in close contact ever since. When Lauer, who was Jewish, emigrated to Sweden in 1941 and joined the import-export company MellaneuropeiskaAB (The Central-European Trading Company), the Christensen firm quickly became a corner stone of its client network. Lauer administered the affairs of Mellaneuropeiska together with Raoul Wallenberg who wished to learn the intricacies of international commerce and who – as a citizen of neutral country – retained the ability to travel throughout Nazi- occupied Europe.

It is well known that Mellaneuropeiska managed to import sizable quantities of foodstuffs to Sweden during the war, including large supplies of poultry, fresh and dried eggs and other hard to obtain specialty items, like cigarettes and fruit, mostly from Hungary. In his application for Swedish citizenship in 1944, Lauer put the value of these imports at about 10,000,000 SEK in just three years – worth approximately $25,000,000 today.

Few people are aware however, that almost all of these transactions involved the Christensen firm , since the goods required transfer through German territory and subsequent shipment via the Hamburg harbor. In a letter addressed to Swedish authorities, Raoul Wallenberg estimated that in 1943 alone his firm’s volume of trade with Nootbaar amounted to about 2,000,000 SEK ($5,000,000 today). The main beneficiaries of these goods were the Swedish public as well as the Swedish Army.

Together Mellaneuropeiska and Nootbaar also handled the transfer of sizable charitable donations, such as U.S. and British aid packages – through the International Red Cross – to various aid organizations in Belgium and later, to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. Ludolph Christensen personally oversaw the latter delivery and apparently managed the distribution only after many contentious meetings with the camp commander. Another example is Mellaneuropeiska’s successful arrangement of a large shipment of children’s clothing from Hungary to France in 1942.

Fig.2 ASEA’s export declaration from late 1942 for high speed drilling equipment to Hungary. Source: File for Mellaneuropeiska at Valutakontoret. Riksarkivet, Stockholm)

Interestingly, Mellaneuropeiska, in its role as an export agent, repeatedly dealt with the Hamburg authorities in the transfer or goods other than foodstuffs. In January 1943, Wallenberg and Lauer received permission for the delivery of high-speed drilling equipment (worth then about 22,000 SEK, approximately $55,000 today) from the Swedish electrical concern ASEA – which operated in the Wallenberg business sphere – to Hungary, specifically to the Manfred Weiss Flugzeug und Motorenfabrik A.G. (Duna Aircraft Manufacturing plant). The Duna plant at that time produced planes for the German Luftwaffe.

***

At the outbreak of the war, the German Reichsbank put hard currency reserves at the disposal of those companies that had traditionally engaged in transit transactions with Europe and America. This allowed Germany to continue to procure important goods, especially from the United States, while earning valuable foreign exchange (through so-called « Dreiecksgeschäfte », a form of triangular barter or compensation trade).

Nootbaar was one of these firms that managed to stay in business, on a smaller scale. Even though Christensen himself had no sympathies for the Nazis, his firm was considered « essential » for the affairs of the Third Reich. It fulfilled a vital role in the supply of critical raw materials and foodstuffs – such as powdered eggs (used for baked goods as well as the manufacturing of margarine) – to feed Germany’s population and to supply the German Wehrmacht.

Fig. 3 SS General Karl Wolff

Christensen was never a member of the Nazi Party, but his role was considered so important that he was freed from military service and he secured the crucial privilege of foreign travel. It appears that he procured these favors at least in part through the protection of a powerful patron – his sister’s husband, the SS General Karl Wolff.

The German authorities, especially the Foreign Exchange Control Office, imposed strict rules on transit firms and monitored them closely, since their activities inevitably accrued assets (foreign debts) abroad.

Christensen had been traveling to Sweden regularly since 1929. After the outbreak of the Second World War, his visits continued unabated. Yet for some reason, no dossier about him seems to have been preserved in the archive of the wartime Swedish Security Police. The opening of such a file, with very few exceptions, would have been a routine step, since Christensen was a foreign national who entered Swedish territory three to four times a year.

The reasons for the frequent visits were both professional and personal. By the late 1930s, Christensen had separated from his first wife and had begun a relationship with a Swedish woman whom he would eventually marry.

***

Through new documentation obtained from the Swedish National Archive and the Christensen family, a clearer picture emerges of the precise circumstances and considerations that led to Raoul Wallenberg’s selection for the Budapest humanitarian mission in the spring of 1944 .

With the German occupation of Hungary on March 19, 1944, all Jewish citizens in the country faced deportation and death. The Nazi killing machine moved with frightening speed. Kálmán Lauer immediately began to rally all forces to protect his sister and her family (Irénand Ferenc Mihály and their daughter) and to save the relatives of his wife Marikka. These included her elderly parents, Lajos and Irene Stein, as well as their only surviving son, Julius Stein.

In one of the earliest accounts of Wallenberg’s mission, Austrian author Rudolph Philipp wrote that Lauer had immediately telephoned his « close friend in Hamburg » for help — this was in fact Ludolph Christensen, although his name is never mentioned.

According to Philipp, the initial idea was to create some kind of business deal between Hungary and Sweden that would provide an « advantage » and thereby an incentive for Germany to permit the departure of certain Jewish citizens from Hungary. Philipp specifically refers to a possible « transit transaction » (like the ones that were routinely carried out by Mellaneuropeiska and Nootbaar). Such a deal would result in much sought after goods and/or possible hard currency income for the Reich.

Philipp claims that these discussions occurred in June 1944, and that they at some point included the American official Iver Olsen who served as both the representative of the recently formed U.S. War Refugee Board and a member of the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor of the CIA)in Stockholm.

In fact, no record exists of Ludolph Christensen entering Swedish territory in June. It is doubtful that Christensen ever met with Olsen personally – such a meeting would have entailed enormous risks for a German national.

Fig. 4 Letter from Mellaneuropeiska requesting an extension of Ludolph Christensen’s visa in April 1944, so that he could meet with Raoul Wallenberg on May 1 -2, 1944. Source: Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Instead it is likely that deliberations had already begun a month or so earlier, when Ludolph Christensen traveled to Sweden for a short visit from April 24 – May 5, 1944. During this trip, he and Lauer undoubtedly discussed the crisis in Hungary brought about by the German occupation in March 1944 and its likely consequences for Lauer’s relatives.

Raoul Wallenberg was away on duty with the Swedish Home Guard at the time, but he was most likely informed about the discussions and was expected to consult with Christensen around May 1 or 2. (see Fig.4)

Regardless whether or not the two men met at the time, some plan of action appears to have been settled upon.

One indirect indication for this is the fact that Wallenberg applied already on May 15, 1944 for an extended leave from his military service,

“to buy foodstuffs, partially for export to Sweden, partially for the distribution among Hungary’s Jews through the Committee that shall be formed for this purpose …”

This very much echoes the ideas outlined in Philipp’s account.

***

At the same time, the Jewish community in Stockholm as well as the U.S. government stepped up the pressure to find ways to assist Hungary’s Jews, with the help of the Swedish authorities.

On June 7, the American Minister Hershel Johnson discussed the situation with the Swedish Cabinet Secretary Eric Boheman who agreed to strengthen his country’s official representation in Budapest. In a letter, Boheman also outlined concrete Swedish plans for

« ..sending food to those in concentration camps[in Hungary] to be distributed under supervision.”

Precisely at this moment also came an urgent call from the Swedish Legation, Budapest for increased personnel to deal with the growing humanitarian crisis.

On June 12, Hershel Johnson reported home to Washington – to the U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull – that he has

« found Swede who is going to Hungary very near future on business trip and who appears willing to lend every possible assistance on Hungarian problem. »

Johnson’s statement underscores that up to this point Raoul Wallenberg had clearly intended to travel to Hungary in the capacity of a businessman, most likely in support of Christensen’s and Lauer’s plans. But he faced a serious problem: By the beginning of June, it was nearly impossible to obtain a transit visa through Germany, because the border with Hungary was essentially closed.

On June 12 and again on June 15, Wallenberg met with Iver Olsen to discuss the possible rescue action and it must have been decided at this point that Wallenberg should receive a formal diplomatic appointment. Such a step meant that he would have to abstain from any commercial activities, but this hardly mattered, since Lauer would continue to manage Mellaneuropeiska’s affairs.

***

In a two page summary he wrote after the war about his activities in Hungary in 1944, Ludolph Christensen relates how just a few days earlier, on June 5, 1944, he had set out on a trip to Karlsbad (then part of the annexed Sudetenland) to meet with an « high officer of the Waffen SS ». This was almost certainly General Wolff who frequently traveled there to recover from a serious kidney ailment that had required an operation the year before. In 1943, Wolff had finally obtained permission to divorce his first wife and to marry Christensen’s sister, Ingrid, with whom he had a liaison since 1936.

Christensen apparently received a [letter of] recommendation from Wolff to his friend, Edmund Veesenmayer, Reich Plenipotentiary in Hungary. However, Christensen was prevented from immediately proceeding to Hungary by the Allied bombing of his company buildings in Hamburg, which required his urgent return. He was only able to obtain a visa for travel to Budapest by mid-July 1944.

In his summary account Christensen explains how upon his arrival in Budapest, he went straight away to see Raoul Wallenberg who introduced him to the First Secretary at the Swedish Legation, Per Anger. Wallenberg explained that Christensen had come to assist them « with their project ». Anger provided Christensen with a copy of a Swedish ‘note verbale’ which he and Wallenberg planned to present to the Hungarian authorities, asking for the protection of twenty-five Jewish individuals with ties to Sweden. The list included Kálmán Lauer’s sister, her husband and their daughter, as well as Marikka Lauer’s relatives.

Christensen then immediately went to see Veesenmayer who referred him to Theodor Grell, the official in charge of Jewish affairs at the German Legation. According to Christensen, Grell expressed great surprise, wondering

« why would I – a German citizen – concern myself with rescuing Jews? »

Christensen writes:

« I explained that Koloman and Marikka Lauer were my good friends in Sweden and that it should not be a problem to release the people named in the official Swedish ‘note verbale’ of which I handed him a copy. »

Grell replied that the Jews who had lived in the provinces he could

» ‘no longer obtain’, precisely as if he was talking about an item that had sold out« ,

Christensen finally received Grell’s assurances that those Jews mentioned in the ‘note verbale’ who remained in Budapest would be protected and permitted to leave.

The next few days, Christensen and Wallenberg spent filling out forms on behalf of those who could possibly be rescued.

Christensen then went to see Grell again, to plead for Lauer’s sister and her family, but did not succeed in winning permission for them to depart for Sweden. It appears that through his efforts, however, a small group of other individuals were later allowed to leave Hungary.

The German authorities soon objected to Christensen’s presence and it was made clear to him that he should depart as soon as possible.

Christensen writes that during his last night in Budapest he and Raoul Wallenberg had dinner on the veranda of the famous Gellert hotel. Wallenberg pointed out another guest, the head of the Fascist Arrow Cross Party,Ferenc Szálasi, who was seated at a neighboring table. A few months later, Szálasi would gain power, plunging the country into complete chaos, with his Arrow Cross followers murdering Jews nearly at will.

When Christensen left Hungary on August 1, 1944, Wallenberg asked him to deliver greetings to his mother and to tell her that he planned to travel home to Sweden via « Siberia, China and the United States ». Christensen says that Wallenberg was curious about the Far East and that he felt his diplomatic passport would offer all the necessary protection he needed for such a trip.

With Christensen’s stay in Budapest cut short, one wonders what happened to his and Wallenberg’s plans

« to probe the highest German circles for future developments ».

Given Christensen’s personal connections, it would be interesting to know if these plans referred solely to the subject of Jewish deportations or if topics like how to find a quick end to the war, through possible separate peace agreements (between Germany and the Allies), were perhaps intended to become part of these considerations. Numerous such initiatives were under way at the time, in both Budapest and Stockholm.

Interestingly, right after Christensen’s arrival in Budapest, Wallenberg had sent a coded telegram to Sweden on this very subject.

Fig. 5 Coded telegram sent by Raoul Wallenberg to Stockholm on July 22, 1944, referring to rumors about possible separate peace negotiations between Germany and the Allies. Source: Riksarkivet, Stockholm

In this telegram he urged the Americans to ensure that if a separate peace agreement would be concluded between Germany and the Allies (possibly the Soviet Union), the protection of the Jews was secured well in advance. It is unclear if Wallenberg was reacting to certain rumors circulating in Budapest or if Christensen could have been the source of this information.

It is well known that Stalin strongly disapproved of such discussions, and he especially objected to the deal made in early 1945 by U.S. intelligence chief Allen Dulles with General Wolff – the so-called « Operation Sunrise ». Wolff had arranged the full surrender of the German Army in Italy to U.S. authorities without prior knowledge or involvement of the Soviet leadership.

In this connection it would be of some interest to examine what exactly the Russians knew about Raoul Wallenberg’s long-time association with Christensen and if so, how they assessed this contact. From the Soviet perspective, Mellaneuropeiska’s German business dealings may have simply confirmed that – wartime or not – Sweden and Raoul Wallenberg were ready to maintain profitable relations with the Third Reich. It also needs to be established if the Soviets linked Raoul Wallenberg in any way to Karl Wolff (via Christensen, for example) or to separate peace discussions in general.

***

There is some indication that Soviet officials have known about Raoul Wallenberg’s German business contacts for some time, even though this information has never been shared in detail .

In 2004, Vladimir Sokolov, the Russian diplomat, historian and former member of the official Russian-Swedish Working Group that investigated the Wallenberg case during the 1990s, published several summary notes about his participation in this work (Zametki uchastnika rossisko-shvedskoi rabochei gruppy po « delu Wallenberga », Novaya i Noveishaya Istoria, 2004). He writes that during the war,

« Raoul Wallenberg, like his rich relatives from the ‘house of Wallenberg’ traded successfully with firms of fascist Germany, including trading in strategic materials. »

Sokolov does not clarify from which source he obtained this information, but it appears to be a clear reference to Mellaneuropeiska’s contacts with German firms like Nootbaar and the trade in goods other than foodstuffs. His claims were never discussed in the Working Group.

It is worth noting that Christensen’s name was left out of all accounts of Wallenberg’s mission. And even though he went to great length to assist Lauer’s family and his actions carried considerable risk, he himself never mentioned his role after the war, including in his application for Swedish citizenship filed in 1952.

Christensen was by nature a modest man, yet his silence may be due to a number of considerations. Perhaps he felt that he did not want to draw undue attention to himself, for both personal and professional reasons. Undoubtedly, his sister’s marriage to Karl Wolff and the use of this connection for Christensen’s actions in Budapest could have been misinterpreted and lead to unwanted publicity.

It is also an indisputable fact that Mellaneuropeiska had maintained and profited from extensive trade relations with a German firm during the war years. There may have been fears that this association could have sparked public controversy about perceived « war profiteering » and could end up harming Raoul Wallenberg’s reputation.

Mellaneuropeiska’s association with Nootbaar was undoubtedly a double edged sword: On the one hand, the contacts secured key goods (foodstuffs/raw materials) for Sweden during war time, ensuring adequate supplies and providing a true national service. In addition, large charitable donations were facilitated with Christensen’s help. On the other hand, all this was achieved with the assistance of a firm that had been designated « vital » to the Third Reich and that produced key benefits (foreign exchange and goods) for the Nazi government.

That the matter was sensitive is underscored by the fact that Kálmán Lauer’s lengthy account of his economic activities in Sweden – which he submitted as part of his own application for Swedish citizenship in 1944 – does not once mention Ludolph Christensen by name, even though most of the cited transactions involved Christensen’s person and/or his firm.

Finally, Christensen may have been concerned about how his actions might be perceived by certain conservative circles in post-war Germany and in Sweden.

During the war years, Mellaneuropeiska functioned in a completely anglophile, anti-Nazi environment ; one that also was very much pro-German, in the sense that many people in Sweden had deep sympathies for the « ordinary » German who opposed Hitler’s dictatorship. Wallenberg’s and Lauer’s personal outlook is quite clear on this point. So are the attitudes of Carl Matthiessen and Sven Salén, the owners of Banankompaniet (under whose umbrella Mellaneuropeiska operated). Matthiessen was a staunch supporter of the Norwegian resistance and was close friends with several key British diplomats and intelligence representatives in Stockholm. Salén’s mindset too was definitely pro-Allied. (He served as Vice-President of the Swedish-American Society for many years).

Yet, all these men certainly had a very pragmatic attitude when it came to business. It was clear that old friendships and associations weighed heavily in the balance. The all important goal was to help and protect fellow business associates and, in the process, secure a favorable position for Swedish companies in the post-war economy.

To this end, businessmen like Matthiessen and Salén, as well their bankers – the powerful Wallenberg brothers chief among them – extended considerable assistance to numerous persons throughout the war, across a broad political and ideological spectrum.

Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg played a key role in helping German companies and individuals cloak their assets abroad, for which they stood accused by U.S. authorities for aiding the enemy; and rightly so, in spite of recent attempts to portray these transactions solely as a means of supporting old associates and the German resistance.

Matthiessen’s company, meanwhile, had longstanding ties to Hungary and the family behind the country’s most important industrial concern , Manfred Weiss. He was instrumental in offering the Weiss family important assistance in Sweden, including the safeguarding of some of their holdings.

Raoul Wallenberg’s plans for an organization dedicated to the restitution of Jewish property in Hungary after the war – including lost patent and cartel rights – is another example of this approach.

***

None of the foregoing in any way diminishes Raoul Wallenberg’s work or accomplishments in Budapest in 1944. His German business contacts, however, may have further enhanced the already strong Soviet suspicions about his person. In January 1945 Wallenberg was arrested by Soviet forces and taken to Moscow where he disappeared.

It needs to be determined if Wallenberg’s association with Ludolph Christensen had any broader ramifications for his later fate. Future research will have to show if the Russians attached any significance to Wallenberg’s German connections or if they regarded them as mostly incidental. In order to do so, it will also be necessary to gain a deeper understanding of Mellaneuropeiska‘s full range of activities during the war years.

***

Susanne Berger is a historical researcher and journalist who has studied the background of the Raoul Wallenberg case for many years. She served as an independent consultant to the Russian-Swedish Working Group from 1995-2001.

C.G.McKay has written several research reports on the case of Raoul Wallenberg and is the author of the books « From Information to Intrigue » (1993) and (with Bengt Beckman) « Swedish Signal Intelligence 1900-1945 » (2003).

Vadim Birstein, a biologist and historian,was a member of the first International Commission on Raoul Wallenberg headed by Prof. Guy von Dardel, Wallenberg’s half-brother, in 1990-91. He has published many articles on the Wallenberg case (some co-authored with Susanne Berger) and is the author of the books “The Perversion of Knowledge: The True History of Soviet Science” (2001) and “SMERSH, Stalin’s Secret Weapon: Soviet Military counterintelligence in WWII” (2012), which received the inaugural St. Ermin’s Intelligence Book Award in 2012.